I like the spirit of what you are saying.
But it isn’t what happened on 1996.
As I recall it, the main reason John Howard’s conservative government was elected was because he was perceived as a better economic manager than Keating. Gun control wasn’t a big campaign issue.
But very soon after the election there was a horrific killing of innocents by a deranged gunman at a Tasmanian tourist site.
The new Prime Minister Howard took decisive action to buy back many many guns and radically tighten gun laws.
It made him look “great” with the political middle ground because he stared down the right wingers in his government who believed in wider gun ownership. This political happenstance is a reason IMHO that Howard went on to have 4 consecutive election victories. He looked great in the eyes of middle ground people early in his primeministershio. He was also very good on border protection.
I thought the NFA was put to a vote by citizens. I thought wrong. It was fast tracked in just 12 days after the Port Arthur Massacre.
A mandatory buy back confiscated over 650,000 guns. In any event, I see this as the beginning of the end of Basic rights Down Under.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Firearms_Agreement
https://www.vox.com/2015/8/27/9212725/australia-buyback